Text 3: Discoveries in Africa and

BeyondTopic 1: The Origins of Civilization (Prehistory - 300 B.C.E)

Lesson 1: Learning About Our Past

Discoveries in Africa and BeyondSince the 1870s, scholars have worked to learn about the ancestors of modern humans

Examining fossils, or remains of ancient life preserved in ancient rock was the first way

Fossils might include footprints, impressions of leaves, bones, or even skeletons

Discoveries in Africa and BeyondPrehistoric groups did not have cities, countries, organized central governments, or complex inventions, so clues about them were hard to find

Before the 1950s, anthropologists knew little about early humans and their ancestors

Discoveries in Africa and BeyondArchaeologists in East Africa started uncovering ancient footprints, bones, and tools

With these first key discoveries, scholars began to form a picture of life during prehistory

In the 1930s, anthropologists Mary Leakey and Louis Leakey started searching for clues to the human past in a deep canyon in Tanzania called Olduvai Gorge

Geologists have dated the bottom layers of Olduvai Gorge to an age of 1.7 to 2.1 million years

East AfricaThe Leakeys found very ancient tools chipped from stone

The tools looked simple, but the jagged edges and rough surfaces showed that whoever had made them had learned to develop technologies to help them survive

Technology refers to the skills and tools people use to meet their basic needs and wants

East AfricaThe Leakeys felt there must be evidence of the makers of those tools

In 1959 Mary Leakey found pieces of bone embedded in ancient rock

The bone belonged to an early hominid who lived almost 2 million years ago

Hominids, a group that includes humans and their closest relatives, all walk upright on two feet

Humans are the only hominids that live today

East AfricaDonald Johanson found evidence of early hominids in Ethiopia in 1974

He found a complete skeleton, which was dated to at least 3 million years ago, and named it “Lucy”

Archaeologists had enough of one skeleton to piece together and really look at an early hominid

Studying Lucy’s skeleton, Johanson could see that she was an upright walker who was about 4 feet tall

Early Hominid GroupsScientists and anthropologists have discovered and studied numerous remains and artifacts of hominids

They have established that a number of different groups of hominids lived over the course of several million years

They call the earliest group of hominids australopithecine, and they all lived in Africa

Lucy was an australopithecine

They may have lived there as early as 7 million years ago

Early Hominid GroupsAbout 2 million years ago, a group of hominids called Homo habilis (handy man) emerged and they are thought to be the first hominids to make stone tools

Anthropologists have uncovered even older stone tools—2.6 million years in age—but they have not determined which hominids created them

By studying stone tools it has been concluded that Homo habilis used their tools for purposes such as cutting, scraping, chopping, or sawing plants,animals, and wood

Early Hominid GroupsAnother group of hominids, called Homo erectus (upright man), also appeared around 2 million years ago

Their skeletons show that they were fully upright walkers

Had larger brains and bones and smaller teeth than other hominids

They also showed a greater range of capabilities, learning how to use fire

Early Hominid GroupsNew form of stone tool, the hand ax, was also invented by Homo erectus

It could be used like the earlier tools were but also worked for digging, shattering stone or bone, and boring holes into hard surfaces

Homo erectus remains have been found in Asia and Europe, making scholars think they were the first hominids to migrate out of Africa

Evidence of Homo SapiensScientists think that between 250,000 and 100,000 years ago, Homo erectus disappeared and a new group of hominids emerged, Homo sapiens, the group to which modern humans belong

Disputes over where Homo sapiens first lived: The “Out of Africa” theory, Homo sapiens first lived in Africa and then migrated into other areas of the world

Other scientists think that Homo erectus developed into Homo sapiens around the same time in different parts of the world

Either way, scholars think that two groups of Homo sapiens soon arose

Neanderthals and the earliest modern humans

Evidence of Homo SapiensEarly modern humans eventually spread all over the world, while Neanderthals lived mostly in Europe and western Asia

Sometime between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago, the Neanderthals disappeared, leaving early modern humans as the only hominids on Earth